Loader and packer for refuse trucks



Oct. 19, 1954 J. P. CALAMOREY LOADER AND PACKER FOR REFUSE TRUCKS 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 18, 1951 INVENTOR John P Calamore QZ ATTORNEY Oct. 19, 1954 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 18, 1951 'INVENTOR P Calamore ATTORNEY 19, 1954 J. P CALAMORE LOADER AND PACKER FOR REFUSE TRUCKS 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 18, 1951 mm M INVENQ Y a 0 AN a o @w 0 o m N o o O m in P Lo 0 mm a 0 ANN @MJ 0 o R O O 0 g 0 \N m, A? o o O 3 mm 0 mm O O O WI nlI o mum 0 Hw O-- o a o M @v Q 0 mm Q ax QN r m O m H m am Q W o o N mm a E Oct. 19; 1954 J. P. CALAMORE 2,692,062

LOADER AND PACKER FOR REFUSE TRUCKS Filed Jan. V18, 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR (IO/222 CaZ amore ATTORNEY 1954 J. P. CALAMORE 2,

LOADER AND PACK ER FOR REFUSE TRUCKS Filed Jan. 18, 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 I I a la. INVl'iNTOR Jo/2 22B Calamore TTORNEY" 1954 J. P. CALAMORE LOADER AND PACKER FOR REFUSE mucxs 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Jan.

- -|NvENTo John 1? Calamore A7 Patented Oct. 19, 1954 ()FFICE UNITED STATES John P. Calamore, Flushing, N. Y., assignor to City Tank Corporation, Corona, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application January 18, 1951, Serial No. 206,632

12 Claims.

This invention relates to a tailgate loader and more particularly to a tailgate loader and auxiliary packer for refuse trucks.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my application Serial No. 126,496, filed November 10, 1949, now Patent No. 2,660,326, granted Nov. 24, 1953.

It is an object of this invention to provide a loader for a refuse truck in which a rotary prime blades continuously operating within a low level hopper, shifts the load along an inclined plate on the tailgate to a fill aperture above the truck floor level, the load being distributed and compacted within the truck body by a continuously operating packer plate which exercises a shearing action of the refuse adjacent the filling aperture and cyclically delivers to the gradually accumulated bed of gravitationally deposited refuse, a

mover operates an endless conveyor lift or escala- 1 dow wa d, fOrWard a d upw Compacting 0- tor type of load shifter which moves refuse or the tion and return clearing movement which does like from a relatively low level loading hopper not churn, loosen or return the load to the initial along an angularly directed tailgate to direct the p sit on. load well above the floor level of a refuse truck Still more particularly it is an object of this within a closed body and to continuously 115- invention to provideincombination witharefuse tribute the charge within the body with compacttruck, a loader and compaeter charact rized by ing force whereby interruption in loading is mincombining with a truck body to be loaded, an imized and a high pay load may be filled into endless conveyor lift or escalator which continuthe refuse truck body economically. ously serves to shift refuse from a hopper at a In my prior application aforesaid I have prolow level, to deposit the load through a fill openvided in combination with arefuse truck, aloader s Within the bo y ove t e floor level, and and packer mounted on the tailgate of a closed cyclically coordinating with the conveyor lifts or body truck in which an endless conveyor having blades, a packer plate which is driven by an eccenlift blades is arranged to move refuse from a trio to pack the load With n the t u k body, t loading hopper at a low level and deposit it well give to the refuse a downward, forward and upabove the floor level of the refuse truck, through ward movement cyclically repeated, without an opening adjacent a secondary hopper or arcuchurning and returning the load and to afford ate wall in relation to which a packer plate is the minimum obstruction to the incoming load, driven, to provide a bodily swinging movement to effect a shifting and packing of the load over by an eccentric cross shaft which swings the plate a great width of the truck body, downwardly and adjacent the secondary hopper to provide a pushforwardly thereof, to secure high pay loads. ing force along the surface or bottom wall of the Still more particularly it is an object of my hopper which minimizes recycling and which invention to provide a refuse truck having subeffects a forward and upward pushing compactstantially closed body and a tailgate loader and ing force to within the truck body, with return packer combining with a primary and relatively clearing movement leaving an opening free' from low level hopper, a feed therethrough comobstruction and which does not churn up the prising an escalator type of lift which moves refuse or tend to return the refuse to cause the load along a substantial width of the truck interference with the lifts. and deposits the same through an opening in the I have found that long life, increased wear 40 truck above the floor level and near the roof of resistance, relative freedom from interruption of the truck, and which may handle a variety of the associat d parts, and higher pay loads may refuse with little or no likelihood of stalling, and be secured by a great reduct on of t e cr p which is characterized by the facility with which act on against the arcuate pe W l W it may be reversed to release jammed infrangible reater clearance therefrom and gravitational refuse or other material without damage to the deposition of the refuse within the truck body mechanism or delay which may be involved in effecting an initial shearing and the application freeing the load, and characterized by continumore directly of the compacting force of a comously and rapidly executed cyclical operations copacting plate against the mass of refuse within ordinating a continuously moving endless chain the body of the truck. conveyor with a packer providing a compacting Still mo e particularly, I have found and it is force distributed over a large proportion of the a O j Of this ve tion to provide, in combinawidth of the truck, which packer provides a comtion, a refuse truck having a relatively closed bination forward and upward movement to the body including a tailgate construction in which oncoming refuse, without churning or return of an endless conveyor or escalator having lifts or the load, and including a very simple number of cooperating parts which assure long life and minimum maintenance service.

Still more particularly it is an object of this invention to combine with an endless conveyor lift or escalator a tailgate loader which may be powered by a rotating prime mover such as a hydraulic motor, to supply adequate power efiiciently to prevent load channeling in movement to within the body and exert positive rake in effecting the shifting of the load to the interior of the body and secure long life and economy of maintenance.

To attain these objects and such further objects as may appear herein or be hereinafter pointed out, I make reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, in which-- Figure l is a fragmentary side elevation, partly in section, of a refuse truck and tailgate embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is a magnified perspective view of a packer plate employed by me;

Figure 3 is a magnified section of the upper portion of the tailgate, disclosing the packer plate assembly;

Figure 4 is a section taken on the line 44 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal section of the tailgate and packer assembly of another embodiment of my invention;

Figure 6 is an end elevation thereof;

Figures 7 to 12 are diagrammatic views showing the cycle of movement of the packer plate, with the embodiment illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3;

Figures 13 to 18 are diagrammatic views showing the various positions of the packer plate in accordance with the embodiment illustrated in Figure 5.

Summarizing my invention, I provide, in combination with a refuse truck body, a tailgate having a unitary assembly of an endless chain conveyor or escalator type of lift along an inclined tailgate plate running from a low level hopper across a substantial width of the truck body to a filling aperture well above the floor of the truck and adjacent the roof thereof, adjacentwhich point refuse is stripped or sheared from the filling opening by a transversely moving packer plate extending for a substantial width of the body of the truck, and, by an eccentric rotary drive, is given a combined pushing and tilting movement downwardly, forwardly and upwardly within the truck body without the need for shielding to prevent recycling, scattering or churning and all performed by a rotary prime mover, preferably a hydraulic motor, for continuous and uninterrupted operation whereby high pay loads are transported economically and with the minimum amount of wear due to abrasion in handling refuse or loss of use of the truck for repair.

Making reference to the drawing, I illustrate my invention in connection with a truck chassis having a refuse body I I mounted thereon. The truck body desirably has a closed roof I2 and by side walls'which are angularly directed provides the fill opening l3, which is covered by a tailgate assembly 14. The tailgate assembly is supported in body clcsing position by the bracket arms l aligned with the suspending ears I6, and coupled thereto by the hinge pintles H, to hingedly support the tailgate assembly on the truck body.

The bracket arms [5 are extended to provide offsets 18 supporting the knuckle IQ for engagement by the hydraulic piston 20 to power actuate the tailgate asse'e'inbly into an open position when duly unlocked by latching means (not shown). The tailgate assembly includes a closure plate 2 I, extending downwardly below the truck floor 22, and supports an arcuate bottom extension 23 combining with side plates 24 to form a casing through which refuse may be fed via the hopper 25 having the usual can stops and like known equipment. The side plates 24 adjacent the hopper support end guides comprising incomplete annular flanges 26 extended from a drum 2'! and mounted on the side plates of the hopper and held thereto by the bolts 28, passing through slots 29 for lengthwise adjustment of the end guides. The flanges 25 are aligned with the tracks 30 and 3| leading up to each side of the main drive shaft 32, supporting the sprockets 33 for guiding the conveyor chains 34 on which are mounted the lifts or blades 35 and guide rollers 36. The drive shaft 32 supports the sprockets 33 to direct the lifts 35 to and past the fill opening or throat 31, which is outlined by the breaker edge 38 which is reinforced by the reinforcing bar 39, having extending therefrom an arcuate edge member 40 inwardly of the plate 2! whose are or radius corresponds substantially to the path of the packer hereafter to be described. Side plates 38a may be extended from the side edges 31a to extend across the throat inwardly of the throat opening 31.

The inward face of the tailgate plate 2| has mounted thereon journaled [brackets 4l-M in which are journaled the stub shafts 42-42. The stub shafts on the complemental ends support circular side plates or disks 43 and have eccentrically trunnioned adjacent the periphery of the side plates the cross bar 44. The cross bar 44 pivotally supports by suitable bearings one end of the packer plate 45, and has an overhang which projects to the periphery of the side plates and includes a reinforcement by the reinforcing channels 46 having its leading edge shielded by the shoe 41. The forward face 48 of the shoe may be angularly directed or in parallelism with the plane of the packer plate in accordance with the type of refuse to be handled, to have a greater or lesser degree of positive rake. Thus I have found that the rake may be made of a greater degree of positiveness for less frangible or mushy refuse and that where more frangible refuse, such as ashes or cinders is to be handled, the positive rake may be diminished to provide a flat plate throughout, to minimize abrasion, increasing the life of the packer plate and minimize any stalling tendency, where a great amount of such refuse is to be handled.

The packer plate 45 is supported adjacent its upper edge 49 by the cross bar 50, the pivotal ends 51 whereof are coupled to the bell crank links 52, whose branches 53 thereof support therebetween the auxiliary plate 54 to extend the edge 55 thereof in close contact with the upper edge 49 of the packer plate 45. For this purpose, this latter edge may be arcuately formed to provide a contact surface to minimize the gap between the edge 55 and the edge 59. The plate 54 thus provided may have its end 55 extend to the elbow of the bell crank levers 52 previously described. The branches 57 terminate in bearings 58 and are coupled to support the assembly on pintles 59 at a fixed point extending from the bracket arm 60 spaced inwardly in relation to the axes of the countersh'afts 32. All these parts may be supported on the tailgate to form a unitary 'assembly. The countershafts 4-2 have sprockets 6|, each of which has chain belts 62 coupled to the sprocket wheel 63 on the main drive shaft 32. The main drive shaft 32 has a gear 64 and chain or the like drive 65 coupled to the motor 68 which may be a hydraulic motor for rotatively driving the gear 64 with adequate gear reduction'to secure a predetermined mechanical advantage, it being understood that other transmission means with suitable reduction gearing may be employed to transmit the power from the motor to the drive shaft 32.

By the construction described, I find it desirable to position the number of lifts or blades 35 and adjust the gear reduction for driving the countershaft 82 that the latter in turning the side plates 43 coordinates the assembly to provide a movement of four lifts across the throat for each revolution of the side plates 43 and to coordinate the position of a lift or blade 35 that it reaches a position substantially coincident with the edge 33 when the cross bar 44 is diametrically opposite to the position of the edge 38 of the throat, it being understood that the leading edge or shoe 41 clears the arcuate surface lfi with each revolution with clearance depending upon the refuse to be handled as described. The provision of eleven lifts 35 on the conveyor distributes the wear on the members.

The endless conveyor chains 34 are driven by the driving shaft 32 to direct the lifts 35 in close wiping contact with the plate 2| between the side plates of the conveyor casing 24 to rise one flight in the direction shown by the directional arrow B. The packer plate driving shafts 42 are driven in a counter direction. The downwardly directed flight of the conveyor is separated from the upwardly directed flight adjacent the throat 38 by the partitioning breaker plate 61 which is provided at its forward end with an angular shoe (it at a point below the edge 38. A segment comprising a deflector plate 69 is angularly directed towards the threat 3'! adjacent the shaft 32 and acts as a shield as will be understood as this description proceeds.

From the installation as described, refuse may be deposited into the hopper and the refuse cans may be stacked in inverted position over the hopper and held so by resting on a sill pad and hinged can stop supplied with the hopper. When the motive power is put into operation, the refuse is carried by the lifts or blades 35 along the angular plate 2| up to the point where the debris is brought adjacent the throat 3'! spilling over the edge 38 and gravitating into the space below the packer and spreading initially into the angular extension of the tailgate above the truck floor 22. With the synchronization of the flights with respect to the packer plate 45 as shown in Figure 3, an unobstructed passage is provided and permits a wide variety of refuse particles to be discharged into the hopper. Sticks, bars, cardboard or wooden cases are broken up as the lifts bring the material into contact with the leading edge of the breaker plate .6? and shoe 68. As the packer plate 45 is rotated to come adjacent the edge 38, any refuse projecting into the throat is deflected by the packer plate 45 when the packer plate assumes the position as shown in Figure 8. Any remnant of material is then subject to a tilting, shearing, chopping or breaking action as will be observed from the position of the respective parts of the lifts and packer plate in Figure 9. The progressive movement of the packer plate to the positions shown in Figures 10, 11 and 12 will thereafter tend to distribute the refuse within the truck body.

While the edge 38 may be extended arcuately to provide a bottom cooperating with the rotary side plates to form a secondary hopper, as described in my prior application aforesaid, to aid in the deflection and spreading of the refuse to a greater extent to the interior of the truck body, sharp downward clearance is preferred since I have found that this greatly reduces the drag on the packer permitting the initial gravitational deposition of the refuse and the handling of infrangible material with greater facility. Upon an accumulation of debris below the packer, the oncoming refuse is thrust more deeply intothe corner at the extreme end of the truck by the compacting blows of the leading edge 41 of the packer in the downward or return half movement, as the packer passes the bar 39. The accumulated mass is then projected downwardly, forwardly with positive rake pushing the load ahead of it in a direction normal to the surface of the plate as will be clear from an inspection of Figures 9 to 12. The upward first half movement to recycle the packer to the position shown in Figure 7 is accompanied by a clearance movement leaving a substantial passage which is unobstructed and in no way churning the refuse or directing it back into the conveyor through the throat 31.

The coordinated relationship of the plate 54 to the packer blade 45 further aids in shielding the conveyor from any tendency to create churned-up debris as well as to compress the heaped material which may be diverted to each side of the packer downwardly and forwardly to compact the same. The rapid cyclical movements as described progressively move the load forward of the truck after compaction below the packer for a substantial width of the truck body with a minimum amount of channeling to leave uncompacted masses, since any material which is heaped up above the packer and to the sides thereof is gradually compacted or thrown back in the path of the packer to be moved forward within the truck downwardly, forwardly and upwardly in a highly compressed condition to provide a profitable pay load. The compacting action being carried against a more or less resilient bed, stalling of the motor is unlikely, whereby abrasion and caking tending to jam the packer is minimized, making the use of an unusually high powered motor unnecessary.

The high clearance characteristics of the throat and the space between the plates it provide an exceedingly simplified assembly which requires no attention should it be found necessary to reverse the operation to clean the throat and conveyor to free it from any highly infrangible object which may block the passage. Accordingly, forward and reverse movement may be effected by the operator without special attention to the condition and position of the material within the conveyor casing.

While I have shown and described a swing linkage support for the packer plate 45 as it is shifted by the eccentric of the side plates 43 in relation to the breaker bar 39 as contrasted with the arcuate extended wall of my prior application, it will be understood that the swing linkage support in combination with the breaker bar 39 of the character herein disclosed may follow the simple form of swing linkage shown inmy prior application as more specifically described and illustrated in Figures and 6 and diagrammatically illustrated in Figures 13 to 18. Likewise, the combined swing linkage comprising the bar crank link support and auxiliary plate 54 may be employed with an installation in which the breaker edge 38 has extended an arcuate bottom wall forming a secondary hopper as in my prior application.

Making reference to Figures 5 and 6 comparable parts to that shown in the embodiment illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 are correspondingly numbered and all essential details identical. In this construction, however, the packer plate 45 has its edge 49 supported by links "511a whose suspending end 5M has the pivot 59a extended substantially vertically over the center of the countershafts 42 as will be more clearly shown from the diagrammatic assembly in Figures 13 to 18. The cycle of operation is substantially the same as in the prior embodiment, though to some extent sacrificing positiveness of rake forward of the truck in all positions of movement of the packer plate after progressing the movement thereof beyond the shearing position adjacent the breaker edge 38. Likewise, it will be observed that as contrasted with the embodiment illustrated in Figures 7 to 12, compaction of material which may climb adjacent the roof of the body occurs at a slightly lower level thereof, and a simplification of the installation may dictate its preference over the employment of the packer plate and auxilary extension of the first embodiment described.

As shown particularly in Figures 1 and 5 and previouslydescribed, the closure plate supports an arcuate bottom extension 23 combining with side plates 24 to form a casing through which the refuse may be fed via the hopper 25 having the usual can stops and like known equipment. It will also be observed that the bottom extension walls form a constant clearance enclosure about the tracks 3%, 3! for guiding the chains 35 so that blades 35, after reaching the nip indicated by sharp breaker edge 23(a) extending from the hopper wall 25(a) will carry the refuse without change in compaction at the hopper bottom extension wall. A change in clearance beyond the sharp breaker edge overcomes the unusual load of compaction as compared with that involved in a tangential relation of the bottom wall to the path of the lifts. This feature, in addition to effecting the breaking up of refuse, avoids the need (with a great many forms of refuse) of using resilient boots, as stalling loads are largely eliminated.

It will thus be observed that I have provided a loader and packer which may be operated uninterruptedly by powering the same with a rotary prime mover which rotates and advantageously employs the momentum of such movement to drive the shaft of an endless conveyor and similarly rotate the packer plate in cooperative relationship thereto, thus having all the desirable features of an endless conveyor in that the hopper into which the endless conveyor dips to raise the load from a low level may have the latter loaded without interruption and may serve to fill the body, through a throat on the tailgate at a high level. Also by having the packer extend for a substantial width of the truck body as described, I minimize chameling of the load while compacting it and shifting it in compacted condition within the truck'body, to achieve a high pay load economically and with a highly simplified low-cost assembly, assuring long life and low-cost maintenance.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a refuse truck having an angularly inclined tailgate, a loading hopper at a low level mounted thereon including, in combination, a loading and packer assembly having an endless conveyor driven by a rotary drive shaft having lifts or blades guided in a casing on said tailgate, continuously to raise material and direct it from the loading hopper at a low level, into which one flight end of the conveyor is directed, and is upwardly extended over and across a filling throat opening, over which the other flight end of the conveyor is directed, said filling opening having a breaker edge located on said tailgate above the floor level of the truck body and extending transversely for a substantial width of the truck body, a breaker bar between flights of said conveyor in opposed relation to said edge, said packer assembly comprising spaced journalled countershafts having a rotary power drive connection with said first shaft, each of said countershafts having a crank arm in contiguous spaced position and connected by a cross bar, said cross bar supporting a pivotal packer plate adjacent one end across said throat and breaker edge and a swing linkage support for said packer plate adjacent the opposite end, whereby said packer plate is directed cyclically and uninterruptedly with respect of said lifts to transmit a downward, forward and upward motion throughout the depth of the plate over said throat in one phase of movement and clearing said throat in a return phase movement.

2. In a refuse truck in accordance with claim 1 wherein said linkage support comprises a bell crank lever arm.

3. In a refuse truck in accordance with claim 1 wherein said swinging linkage support comprises a pair of hell crank levers supporting the free end of the packer plate between which an auxiliary plate is supported contiguous to the packer plate.

4. In a refuse truck in accordance with claim 1 wherein said endless conveyor directs the lifts across said throat opening, having the upwardly directed and downwardly directed flights adjacent said throat opening separated by a breaker bar adjacent said throat opening and extending across the width of said throat.

5. In a refuse truck in accordance with claim 1 wherein the conveyor directs the lifts to have one flight directed across the throat opening, the downwardly directed flight being separated by a breaker plate including a deflector, angularly directed toward the throat opening.

6. A tailgate loader and packer for a refuse truck or the like including spaced rotatable high level and low level shafts, an eccentric countershaft connected with one of the said high level rotatable shafts and driven thereby, a packer plate, the lower edge of which is pivotally mounted to said countershaft, and a swinging linkage support adjacent the opposite edge of the packer plate, said linkage comprising spaced bell crank levers, one branch of each of which levers supports the upper edge of said packer plate, the other branch of each of which levers is axially displaced vertically from said shafts.

7. A tailgate loader and packer for a refuse truck or the like including spaced rotatable shafts, an eccentric countershaft, a packer plate, the lower edge of which is pivotally mounted to said countershaft, and a swinging linkage support adjacent the opposite edge of the packer plate, said linkage comprising spaced bell crank levers, one branch of each of which levers supports the upper edge of said packer plate, the other branch of each of which levers is axially displaced vertically from said shafts, and an auxiliary plate contiguous to said packer plate supported between said bell crank lever links.

8. In a refuse truck having an angularly inclined tailgate, a loading hopper at a low level mounted thereon including, in combination, an endless conveyor driven by a rotary drive shaft having lifts or blades guided in a casing on said tailgate, one flight of the conveyor adjacent said tailgate serving to raise the material to direct it from the loading hopper at a low level across a filling throat opening on said tailgate including a guide above the throat opening, the return flight being separated from the first flight by a breaker plate for deflecting refuse raised by said lifts into said throat opening.

9. In a refuse truck having an angularly inclined tailgate, a loading hopper at a low level mounted thereon including, in combination, an endless conveyor driven by a rotary drive shaft having lifts or blades guided in a casing on said tailgate, one flight of the conveyor adjacent said tailgate serving to raise the material to direct it from the loading hopper at a low level across a filling throat opening on said tailgate at a high level including a guide above the throat opening, the return flight being separated from said first flight by a breaker plate for deflecting refuse raised by said lifts into said throat opening, said breaker plate having a deflecting segment adjacent the upper portion of said throat opening.

10. In a refuse truck having a tail gate inclined and terminating in a loading hopper at low level into which an endless conveyor is arcuately guided, with lifts or blades to raise material from said hopper to a filling throat above the floor level, the combination comprising a bottom wall in said hopper having a sharp breaker edge adjacent the leading nip point of 10 said wall and path of said flights, said wall being curved arcuately with substantially constant clearance in the trailing position with respect to the arcuately guided portion.

11. In a refuse truck, a truck body having a rearwardly and angularly extended tailgate wall, a tailgate loader along said tailgate wall, comprising a chain lift extending from a fill hopper below the truck body floor and guided adjacent the tailgate wall towards the roof of the truck body, the combination having a fill opening in the tailgate wall above the floor level over which fill opening the lift directs the load to deposit the load in a deposition zone gravitationally below said fill opening on the floor of said truck body, a cyclically operated packer plate assembly mounted for swinging downward, forward pushing motion and return clearing movement in timed relation to and continuously during the deposition of the load by said lift.

12. In a refuse truck in accordance with claim 11 wherein said fill opening is extended and spaced from each side wall of the truck body and. said packer plate assembly is substantially coextensive with said fill opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 968,656 Haines Aug. 30, 1910 1,473,227 Greenleaf Nov. 6, 1 23 2,050,806 Rey Aug. 11, 1 21,34,656 Rottee June 22, 1937 2,124,624 Leach et al July 26, 1938 ,151,894 Cambessedes Mar. 28, 1939 24, Kurtz et a1. Dec. 10, 1940 2,252,608 Ballert Aug. 12, 1 2 Baldt Jan. 31, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 23 ,002 Germany May 29, 1911 459,688 Germany May 10, 1928 188,829 Switzerland Apr. 16, 1937 

